In conjunction with content provider Dugout, the companies have partnered to significantly increase fan engagement while maintaining brand safety, a priority for all stakeholders involved.

FC Barcelona powered ahead of Manchester United and Real Madrid to be named as the club with record engagement, according to Blinkfire Analytics. Under the new partnership between Viber and Vivoom, FC Barcelona fans will have two first-of-their-kind opportunities; using Viber’s app, fans can video themselves in a press conference with the media, as well as running onto the pitch via the storied Camp Nou tunnel for the first time to receive the adulation of fans.

Specially designed filters will turn video content of fans into looking as authentic as the media coverage of major player signings, like Suarez or Coutinho.

The Drum spoke with Katherine Hays, CEO of Vivoom, who explained how the company’s technology engages fans and ensures brand safety for both Viber and FC Barcelona.

Hays says, “This partnership with Viber provides a way to deliver an incredible experience for FC Barcelona fans by enabling them to get closer to the team they love than they might have been able to in the past, and do it on a global scale while maintaining brand safety. For Viber, it’s a way to drive more awareness and ultimately downloads and use of the Viber platform.”

Vivoom has previously worked with other professional sports teams to achieve similar goals, including the Boston Celtics and the LA Clippers.

Regarding brand safety, she says: "The content created by fans can be shared across Viber and other social and messaging platforms. If, for whatever reason, there is off-brand content, Vivoom's proprietary technology allows for moderating the content. Both Viber and FC Barcelona can log into Vivoom's client portal and review the videos in real time. Once flagged, those videos are removed from wherever they were shared in less than 1 second."

She adds, "We are very proud of this aspect of our platform as brand safety has been a key pillar since we founded Vivoom and actually, we are about to be granted a patent for some of the technology we have developed around brand safety."

Vivoom’s consumer activation platform signifies one of the innovative technologies that will drive the advertising industry forward by turning customers and fans into a network of authentic influencers.

As Hays sees it, "Today, fan engagement is critical, it’s the future. It’s not just true for sports teams, it’s really true for almost every product and experience. Experiences need to be shareable. Significant research has been done showing that sharing experiences is often times more important to people than the experience itself or the product itself."